Years of mortal sin, then return to God, years wasted?

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berniemcken

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If a sinner (me 😜) struggled for years with habitual mortal sin but continually went to confession (weekly, monthly and sooner—as needed in my case), went to mass, and tried to progress, (to very little avail) what happens when the sinner finally progresses to a point of trying and succeeding to not commit intentional venial sins and to live one’s life for love of God? —though it still seems imperfect because it’s more for love of my family that I change/sacrifice all I want in this life, and that I give up my horrible self-will.

(It seems the change has occurred through God’s Grace above all, my consecration to Jesus through Mary, daily Rosary praying, praying throughout the day—thank you St Paul for the prayers—and heavy reliance upon St Michael and sacramentals for protection…)

Are all the years of wasted suffering and lost opportunities to unite onesself to the Lord effectively, lost? Do those years of dragging my cross even if the mortal sins were repented of…I had a horrible problem of anger/rage and yelling and using God’s name in vain on purpose…and only some of the venial sins, help my soul at all? (I even think my confessions back then were glaringly not thorough and imperfect.) I am still very much in the purgative way, however I finally have more peace. Anyway…

I was thinking of the all the other suffering not related to sin but just life in general, I very IMpatiently endured (and didn’t want and fought) and if all that suffering was wasted, or if my turning toward God now, helps my soul any. If my soul is still more pure or farther along because of the suffering or if the mortal sin destroyed that. I consecrated myself to Jesus thru Mary back then too but I was totally unfaithful.

Of course, I have given everything to Our Blessed Mother to use via my consecration TJTM, so I’m not sure my knowing matters anyway…

Just wondering what the Church teaches on all this.
 
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The Church teaches that Christ can redeem anything if we trust in him. Even the very worst mistakes we’ve made, God can bring about great good from them. They say to be a good confessor, a priest must first be a good penitent. I wouldn’t have been prepared for helping people find healing from their sins if I hadn’t come to find that in my own life.

-Fr ACEGC
 
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Thank you Father. This brings even more peace. Thank you. May God Bless you.
 
I have struggled with mortal sins of impurity and receiving and lying during confession about it for 8 years (I’m now 20YO), but now I am healed, praise Jesus! I do deeply regret my mistakes and my struggles and the immense pain and anguish they have caused me, but my faith and dedication to the sacraments have grown exponentially and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. I now attend daily mass and regular confession and rosaries regularly and much more because I leaned on these for guidence and strength during my struggles. Now I see clearly the power of these great gifts and sacraments!

From the worst sorrows and suffering Jesus calls each of us by name. He is there to throw down the ladder when we are in the deepest of pits, we just have to climb. May God continue to bless you and let your faith that He is growing in you, inspire others to greater patience, charity, and virtue!
 
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Great question, one I think everyone has to struggle with. Luckily the Scriptures are filled to the brim with flawed and broken people who were loved and elevated for Purpose by God. Look at Moses, a murderer who spent much of his life oppressing his own people. Or David, also effectively a murderer, and an adulterer. All of Jesus’ own apostles lived flawed and sinful lives before turning to follow Him.

God finds strength in weakness. Your redemption can be used as an inspiration for many people in your life who have similar struggles.
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
I have struggled with mortal sins of impurity and receiving and lying during confession about it for 8 years (I’m now 20YO), but now I am healed, praise Jesus! I do deeply regret my mistakes and my struggles and the immense pain and anguish they have caused me, but my faith and dedication to the sacraments have grown exponentially and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. I now attend daily mass and regular confession and rosaries regularly and much more because I leaned on these for guidence and strength during my struggles. Now I see clearly the power of these great gifts and sacraments!

From the worst sorrows and suffering Jesus calls each of us by name. He is there to throw down the ladder when we are in the deepest of pits, we just have to climb. May God continue to bless you and let your faith that He is growing in you, inspire others to greater patience, charity, and virtue!
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Oh PRAISE God! What a beautiful testimony!! Stories like that lift me up. Thank you for sharing and for your encouragement!

I am forever endebted to Our Blessed Mother. My journey took about 8 years also.
 
I wouldn’t say the years are wasted if you got there. If you were confessing and attending Mass, all was not lost. Even Purgatory is not the worst thing ever, the soul is still going to be with God.
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
I have struggled with mortal sins of impurity and receiving and lying during confession about it for 8 years (I’m now 20YO), but now I am healed, praise Jesus! I do deeply regret my mistakes and my struggles and the immense pain and anguish they have caused me, but my faith and dedication to the sacraments have grown exponentially and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. I now attend daily mass and regular confession and rosaries regularly and much more because I leaned on these for guidence and strength during my struggles. Now I see clearly the power of these great gifts and sacraments!

From the worst sorrows and suffering Jesus calls each of us by name. He is there to throw down the ladder when we are in the deepest of pits, we just have to climb. May God continue to bless you and let your faith that He is growing in you, inspire others to greater patience, charity, and virtue!
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Can I ask a heartfelt question… I have a 5 year old boy. He is so good hearted and pure. My greatest desire is to keep him pure in body (and soul). What things would you suggest doing to safeguard him from impurity?

We don’t watch tv (except cartoons on EWTN), no radio except beautiful chant or Christian music, no phones or iPads obviously… We have talked about private areas on our bodies… What else can we do?

ETA: And we pray morning and night and before all meals. We will also homeschool. I am trying to make them (all three children, two girls younger) aware of what sin and grace/vice and virtue are. We also pray for specific virtues every morning.
 
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berniemcken said:
continually went to confession…
(It seems the change has occurred through God’s Grace above all, my consecration to Jesus through Mary, daily Rosary praying, praying throughout the day—thank you St Paul for the prayers—and heavy reliance upon St Michael and sacramentals for protection…)
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The graces of the sacrament sometimes seep into us slowly, but they do so surely. We persevere in our weakness, and His grace meets us where we are.
berniemcken said:
Are all the years of wasted suffering and lost opportunities to unite onesself to the Lord effectively, lost?
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When we are not in a state of grace, we are unable to complete the good works that God has prepared for us, that we should walk in them. We don’t produce the good fruit He intends, and are in danger of being cut off from the Vine.
berniemcken said:
**Do those years of dragging my cross even if the mortal sins were repented of …and only some of the venial sins, help my soul at all?
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Yes, of course! God calls us to perseverance. It is He who is the perfector of our faith. If is for us to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and starting over when we fall down.
berniemcken said:
I am still very much in the purgative way, however I finally have more peace. Anyway…
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This is the key! We need to be in the Purgative way! There is no reason for us to wait until the end of this life for purgation.
 
We may all serve a greater good unbeknown to us. Experience isn’t without value in my opinion and since we are guided in our lives I’m sure that our lives have been as they should have been for reasons unknown to us whilst here in our present form.

We tend to undervalue our lives if they are ordinary, yet ordinary is what the vast majority experience. As our souls are highly valued it might be odd to consider that our daily lives are trivial.
 
I’m still in the boat of trying to move beyond my habitual sin, and I look at it this way.

I may have wasted a lot of years of my life lost to sin, but every moment I no longer waste sinning is a moment I give to God. Those years are going to be nothing compared to the glory of eternity, and will have been nothing compared to the eternity of Hell if I don’t get past this sin.

I don’t care how long I spent sinning, as long as my future is spent not sinning.
 
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It’s very good that you talk with him about his body and some sins already! I played Priest in my living room when I was little, so I was always very religiously inclined and my parents were very actively Catholic, but they didn’t really ever talk about the human body and such thing of purity. So from a young age I became curious, around 8-10 was when my curiosity went down a more sinful route and got progressively worse.

I would suggest putting porn blockers and such on any computers or devices you may have as well as disabling private and incognito search. Even if your children are very engaged in their religion (which is great!) curiosity can still breed sin. So it’s importent to not have them be curious and then try and find answers for themselves. So continue to tell your children as they grow up, what is appropriate and what isn’t, not because these sins are downright sinful (which they are) but because we want to treat our bodies in a holy way as we are temples of the Holy Spirit - always positive aims!

I would also like to offer you this good piece of advice. Matt Fradd talks wonderfully on issues of impurity for both parents and people struggling, he really helped me when I needed it and he’s one of my favorite Catholic speakers. Please check out this beautiful podcast episode of his on advice for parents:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/love-people-use-things/id1320495341?mt=2&i=1000419877046

This is also a beautiful book that Matt Fradd highly recommends and was written by a good friend of his, it’s really a must read to your children! It is a Latter Day Saints Book but it is highly recommended by Catholic speakers.


Lastly, check out Covenant Eyes, it is the BEST blocking and accountability software on the market, and it is highly recommended from Catholic speakers such as Christopher West, Matt Fradd, Cameron Fradd, and Jason Evert. You can get I believe it is 3 months free of Covenant Eyes with the code “Matt Fradd”, but he mentions it in his podcasts, so you can find the exact code there.


If there is any other help I can offer you from my experiences, just let me know!
 
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